‘Krypton’: That General Zod Reveal, Explained

Last night’s (April 18) episode of SYFY’s Krypton ended on huge, shocking reveal. Lyta-Zod (Georgina Campbell) had tracked down Colin Salmon‘s mysterious character, and discovered he was wearing a very familiar necklace. She asked him where he got it, and he revealed, “I’m your son!”

You might have been scratching your head a bit about this, particularly because time travel can hurt your brain. But yep, what you thought was true, is true: Colin Salmon is playing General Zod. You know, “kneel before,” etc?

There’s a lot more to know, but the important detail is that the Superman villain is the contemporary of Kal-El’s father, Jor-El. Zod and Jor-El are even often depicted as friends in the comics, before they have a disagreement over the fate of Krypton. So yes, Lyta-Zod is General Zod’s mother. He’s traveled back in time to stop Brainiac (Blake Ritson) from destroying his world.

There’s a bit more to it, though, so let’s look back through his history for some clues.

God, I just said this. Colin Salmon is General Zod on Krypton. That all said, because we’ve got some time travel shenanigans going on, it’s not as clear cut as all that. Salmon is definitely General Zod, but which General Zod?

There’s been a ton of different iterations on the character in the comics, of course. Beyond that, though, he’s a Zod who had traveled back in time to stop Brainiac, meaning if he’s successful he might change history — and his own, personal history. And what era is he from? Pre-Krypton’s destruction? Post?

We’ve got questions we need answered, folks, and a lot of them should be unraveled next week with “Civil Wars“.

Zod’s First Appearance

Zod first showed up in April, 1961 in “Adventure Comics #283”. Created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp, Zod split from Jor-El and attempted to take over Krypton using a series of Bizarro-style clones. When that didn’t work, he was sentenced to the Phantom Zone prison, only to escape and head to Earth. He tried to take over Earth, Superman stopped him, he was sent back to the Phantom Zone. Rinse, repeat.

Who Is Dru-Zod?

Not to be confused with Dru Hill, the stealth star of the title track from Will Smith’s “Wild, Wild West,” Dru-Zod is General Zod’s real name. Zod is his house, Dru is his given name, so his full, Kryptonian name is Dru-Zod. Pretty simple, really!

Was General Zod The Dude From Superman 2?

Heck yeah, he was. Zod has been appearing comics for over fifty years, was the villain in Man of Steel, and has been in dozens of cartoons. He even showed up on both Smallville and Supergirl. But he’s easily best known for Terence Stamp’s portrayal briefly in Superman: The Movie, and then again in Superman 2.

That’s where the classic line “Kneel before Zod” was popularized, and where he officially became Superman’s greatest enemy along with Lex Luthor.

What’s His Relationship With The House Of El?

Can we say it’s complicated? As mentioned, Zod is often portrayed as a friend and colleague of Jor-El, up until they reach some disagreement about the future of Krypton. Usually that falls along the lines of Zod wanting order at any cost, while Jor-El wants Kryptonians to be free. And usually one way or another he takes whatever beef he has with Jor-El, and amps it up to infinity when it comes to Kal-El.

What Zod’s relationship with Seg-El (Cameron Cuffe) is remains to be seen…

What’s The House Of Zod Family tree?

Here’s the most fascinating thing about what Krypton did this week: up until now, we had no idea who Zod’s parents were. In the comics, you sometimes see him married to Ursa; in the current books they have a son together. But unlike Superman’s family tree, which we know inside and out, Zod’s has been a mystery.

Now we know who his mom is: Lyta-Zod. But who is his dad?

It certainly could be Dev-Em (Aaron Pierre), because the two are betrothed. But how messed up would it be if Dru-Zod was secretly the child of Lyta and Seg, making Zod into Superman’s half-Uncle? (I think I did those genetics correctly) Pretty messed up, if you ask me.

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